But the news tornado isn’t over yet – now we have word about more actresses being up for the female (possibly Wonder Woman) role in Batman vs. Superman, as well as the possible appearance of Flash and “several members of the Justice League.” Say what?

The newest report comes from Variety, which confirms that Olga Kurylenko is up for a female role described as “tall, brunette, athletic and exotic.” Now, which DC female character does that most accurately describe?

Other actresses up for the role include Elodie Yung (G.I. Joe – Retaliation), Gal Gadot (Gisele in the Fast & Furious series), and a possible fourth that has yet to be revealed – though Variety insists that it’s not Jaimie Alexander, who they claim is committed (contractually speaking) to Marvel. But if that’s the case, what were all those recent rumors about? And why was she goading them on?

It’s worth mentioning, as Variety and its sources have, that this female character could very well turn out to be some (relatively) run-of-the-mill love interest for Bruce Wayne. And frankly, there’s actually good reason to believe that’s the case – each one of these actresses has very thick accents that one doesn’t typically associate with Wonder Woman.

Though Wonder Woman is from the mythical island nation of Themyscira, she has never been depicted with an accent (besides an American accent, that is) and it seems kind of unlikely that Warner Bros. would build a brand-new multimillion dollar franchise around an untested actress whose grasp of the English language could be a barrier for American audiences.

According to Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter (via Bleeding Cool), while Wonder Woman WILL appear in the movie (as “Diana”), the actresses up for the “tall, athletic, exotic” role will likely not be playing Wonder Woman, whose part in movie will be insignificant – and possibly just a cameo.

Check out his tweets below:

Since the cat seems to out of the bag...here's what I heard: Wonder Woman will not be in Supes vs Batman. But a certain Diana may show up.

Having said all this – though I do fall on the side that believes that these actresses are probably not up for the role of Wonder Woman, it does seem a bit strange that Zack Snyder and co. would include two very similar characters (in terms of physicality) in the same film.

If this movie will, at some point, briefly introduce “Diana” to the DC Movie Universe, why would producers want to steal her thunder with an equally tall, athletic, and exotic female character (with brown hair)?

Flash and Other Justice League Members to Appear?

In a serious case of burying the lede, Variety goes on to say that Batman vs. Superman will not only feature Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill), but “several members of the Justice League as well.” And though it’s not yet known how significant their roles will be, both Wonder Woman and Flash will definitely make an appearance “in some fashion.”

Now, let’s put this all in perspective. Batman vs. Superman is, for all intents and purposes, a sequel to Man of Steel. So we’re going to need to see some further exploration of Superman’s character, as well as his relationship with Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and the Daily Planet. Who is Clark Kent/Kal El, now that he’s fully embraced his role as the protector of mankind?

But Batman vs. Superman is also a Batman reboot, so there’s going to have to be some work done to establish this new Batman and his new costume, Batmobile, world, and rules. Will we have to see the sort of heavy-lifting we saw with Superman in Man of Steel? No – everyone knows Batman, and pretty much everyone loves him. He was just in a series of mega-hit movies, after all. So it’s not going to to take as much work as it would for, say, Plastic Man or Brainiac 5.

Still, we need to know what kind of Batman this guy is. Is he the World’s Greatest Detective? Is he the master strategist? Is he the world-class martial artist? Is he the playboy by day, superhero by night version of the character? Does he resemble the disgruntled, war-like Batman of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns? Is he all of the above? All these questions and more will need answers.

But we also – very likely – need a villain to mix things up and bring Batman and Superman together (by the end of the movie, in classic comic book fashion). All signs point to Lex Luthor being that villain. We saw some references to the guy in Man of Steel and there have been rumors about actors up for the role (Bryan Cranston and Mark Strong, to name two). This character will need a reboot from the ground up, considering the last time he appeared on the big screen, things didn’t go all that well.

So that means there will be three major characters in this movie as it is. Batman hates (misunderstands?) Superman; Lex Luthor hates Superman; Batman hates Lex Luthor; Lex Luthor relates to and wants Batman on his side; Superman just wants everyone to get along.

With all that in mind, do we really have time to explore other superheroes like Wonder Woman and the Flash, not to mention (possibly) the other members of the JLA? We almostcertainly don’t have time to introduce a former sidekick of Batman who had a falling out with him and went out on his own as Nightwing. Even that sentence sounds like too much back-story for a movie that needs to keep things fairly simple.

Which almost guarantees that these JLA roles will be very small indeed.

Hopefully, we’ll get some answers to all these questions and more at this weekend’s Man of Steel event with Zack Snyder. What say you, Screen Ranters? Do you want to see Wonder Woman and Flash (and other JLA members) in Batman vs. Superman? Drop us a line in the comments.